The Wasatch Behind

Now that school is back in session for another year, I think this would be a good time to change the Carbon High mascot. We've been stuck with a big extinct lizard for a long time and I think it's time to try something else. Maybe Carbon High could change their luck by picking a new mascot, preferably something that lives and breathes.

It's not like we didn't give dinosaurs a good try. We've had that mascot for most of a hundred years. They say a dinosaur was picked in the early days because of the many dinosaur tracks found in local coal mines. To their credit, the early Carbonites did pick a predatory dinosaur and not a lumbering, pea-brained vegetarian.

Back when I was a sophomore at Carbon, everyone said the school mascot was a Tyrannosaurus, but I don't think old T-Rex lived around here. The Allosaurus is the big lizard who called Carbon home, and maybe the Carbon logo is an Allosaurus now. Big deal. Lizards all look the same to me.

The Carbon Dino has changed over the years. In an effort to make him look more modern, we've upgraded the way he looks more than once. Fifty years ago he was a lumbering big mouth who dragged his flat bottom across the school marquee. More recently he has become more up on his toes, balanced, if you will, in a more aggressive, bipedal stance. But still, he's really just a dead lizard. No one even knows what color he was. I doubt he was blue and white.

Don't get me wrong. I love dead lizards as much as the next guy. I just don't think Jurassic fossils represent the county and the high school as well as some other things might.

Let's look at some of the other schools around the state and see what classy creatures they have for mascots. Several of them have ferocious felines. There are the East High Leopards, the Payson Lions, the Woods Cross Wildcats and the West Jordan Jaguars, for example.

Some schools have warriors for their mascots. Emery has the Spartans, Viewmont has Vikings and Northridge has Knights. Layton has the Lancers as their warrior symbol. American Fork's mascot is a Caveman with a big club.

Other schools have birds of prey, like the Salem Skyhawks, the Skyline Eagles and the Alta Hawks. Provo has Bulldogs, Box Elder has Bees, Beaver has Beavers and Bear River has Bears. Kanab has Cowboys, Manti the Templars, and Tooele a Buffalo.

A few schools still carry politically incorrect Native American names. Uintah has the Utes, Cedar has the Redmen, and Springville the Red Devils. Actually, the Springville Red Devil is a loveable cartoon caricature of the devil, but a controversy developed back in 2002 when an official of one of the native tribes sent the school district a formal letter saying the Red Devil mascot was offensive to Native Americans. It seems the natives don't like ol' Beelzebub, even when he's depicted as a cartoon smurf.

And then, a few schools have real cool names. Take the Jordan Beetdiggers, the Meridian Mongooses and the Delta Rabbits, for example. It takes real self-confidence to call your athletic teams Beetdiggers and Rabbits. But then, if I remember correctly, the Delta Rabbit is a representation of Thumper, of course.

So what should we use here at Carbon instead of a dinosaur?

We could go the ferocious feline route and become the Carbon Cougars. Perhaps a bird of prey would be better, something like the Carbon High Falcons. Or, we could use a warrior theme and become the Carbon Crusaders, Conquistadors, or the Carbon High Canoneers. Maybe a Native American theme, like the Carbon Casino Dealers.

Perhaps we could be brave and use one of those cool, provocative names like Beetdiggers, Mongooses and Rabbits. We could be the Carbon Coalminers, Hillbillies or Prairie Dogs. Or, we could be the first school in the state to adopt a green theme. How about the Carbon Recyclers, the Carbon Footprints, or the Carbon Emissions?

What do you think? If you have a better name for the dreary Dinos, write a letter to the editor and let us know here at the Sun Advocate. Who knows, maybe we can change the name, change our luck and change the world.